The installation of semiconductor fabrication machines or process tools used in the semiconductor fabrication industry involves connecting each process tool and its support equipment to exhaust gas piping or ductwork that carries chemical gases used or generated in the semiconductor fabrication process away from the process tool. Such gases are transported to either an environmental treatment and control device or to a chemical recovery and recycle process. Fabrication of process piping or ductwork in situ on the manufacturing floor can compromise the integrity of the clean room, delay and extend hookup of process tools, and interfere with process qualification. This “site-built” fabrication of exhaust gas piping or ductwork also reduces standardization of maintenance and complicates process troubleshooting.
Process machines, also referred to as systems or tools, may require or generate different types of gases, depending upon the process being conducted. Even when carrying out identical processes, a process tool from one manufacturer may contain a number of exhaust gas points of connection (POC's) that differs from the number of POCs on a process tool from another manufacturer.
The differing nature of exhaust gases emitted from process tools often requires some segregation of exhaust gas handling systems. Some exhaust gases are caustic and corrosive, some are volatile solvents, and others are at high temperature. These different physical and chemical characteristics can impose engineering challenges regarding design of exhaust gas piping or ductwork systems.